List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 260

This is a list of cases reported in volume 260 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1922 and 1923.

Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 260 U.S.

The Supreme Court is established by Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of the United States, which says: "The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court . . .". The size of the Court is not specified; the Constitution leaves it to Congress to set the number of justices. Under the Judiciary Act of 1789 Congress originally fixed the number of justices at six (one chief justice and five associate justices). Since 1789 Congress has varied the size of the Court from six to seven, nine, ten, and back to nine justices (always including one chief justice).

When the cases in volume 260 were decided the Court comprised the following nine members:

Portrait Justice Office Home State Succeeded Date confirmed by the Senate(Vote) Tenure on Supreme Court William Howard Taft Chief Justice Connecticut Edward Douglass White (Acclamation) –February 3, 1930(Retired) Joseph McKenna Associate Justice California Stephen Johnson Field (Acclamation) –January 5, 1925(Retired) Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Associate Justice Massachusetts Horace Gray (Acclamation) –January 12, 1932(Retired) William R. Day Associate Justice Ohio George Shiras Jr. (Acclamation) –November 13, 1922(Retired) Willis Van Devanter Associate Justice Wyoming Edward Douglass White (as Associate Justice) (Acclamation) –June 2, 1937(Retired) Mahlon Pitney Associate Justice New Jersey John Marshall Harlan (50–26) –December 31, 1922(Resigned) James Clark McReynolds Associate Justice Tennessee Horace Harmon Lurton (44–6) –January 31, 1941(Retired) Louis Brandeis Associate Justice Massachusetts Joseph Rucker Lamar (47–22) –February 13, 1939(Retired) George Sutherland Associate Justice Utah John Hessin Clarke (Acclamation) –January 17, 1938(Retired)

Notable cases in 260 U.S. Zucht v. King In Zucht v. King, 260 U.S. 174 (1922), the Supreme Court held that the school district of San Antonio, Texas, could constitutionally exclude students not vaccinated against smallpox from attending schools in the district. This followed the Court's 1905 ruling in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, in which the Court "had settled that it is within the police power of a state to provide for compulsory vaccination".

Ozawa v. United States In Ozawa v. United States, 260 U.S. 178 (1922), the Supreme Court found Takao Ozawa, a Japanese-American who was born in Japan but had lived in the United States for 20 years, ineligible for naturalization. In 1914, Ozawa had filed for US citizenship under the Naturalization Act of 1906. This act allowed only "free white persons" and "persons of African nativity or persons of African descent" to naturalize. Ozawa did not challenge the constitutionality of the racial restrictions. Instead, he claimed that Japanese people should be properly classified as "free white persons". The Court held that "the words 'white person' was only to indicate a person of what is popularly known as the Caucasian race", and so Japanese were not considered "free white persons" within the meaning of the law.

Yamashita v. Hinkle In Yamashita v. Hinkle, 260 U.S. 199 (1922), the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the state of Washington's Alien Land Law. The law prohibited Asians from owning property. Washington's attorney general maintained that in order for Japanese people to fit in, their "marked physical characteristics" would have to be destroyed, that "the Negro, the Indian and the Chinaman" had already demonstrated assimilation was not possible for them. The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case, brought by Takuji Yamashita, and affirmed this race-based prohibition, citing its immediately prior issued decision in Takao Ozawa v. United States (described above). Washington's Alien Land Law would not be repealed until 1966.

Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon In Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, 260 U.S. 393 (1922), the Supreme Court held that whether a regulatory act constitutes a taking requiring compensation depends on the extent of diminution in the value of the property. The decision started the doctrine of regulatory taking. The Takings Clause originally applied only when the government physically seized or occupied property. Prior to 1922, American courts followed a clear rule: regulation of land was not a taking. Rather, it was simply an exercise of the government's police power to protect the public health, safety, welfare, and morals.

Citation style

Under the Judiciary Act of 1789 the federal court structure at the time comprised District Courts, which had general trial jurisdiction; Circuit Courts, which had mixed trial and appellate (from the US District Courts) jurisdiction; and the United States Supreme Court, which had appellate jurisdiction over the federal District and Circuit courts—and for certain issues over state courts. The Supreme Court also had limited original jurisdiction (i.e., in which cases could be filed directly with the Supreme Court without first having been heard by a lower federal or state court). There were one or more federal District Courts and/or Circuit Courts in each state, territory, or other geographical region.

The Judiciary Act of 1891 created the United States Courts of Appeals and reassigned the jurisdiction of most routine appeals from the district and circuit courts to these appellate courts. The Act created nine new courts that were originally known as the "United States Circuit Courts of Appeals." The new courts had jurisdiction over most appeals of lower court decisions. The Supreme Court could review either legal issues that a court of appeals certified or decisions of court of appeals by writ of certiorari. On January 1, 1912, the effective date of the Judicial Code of 1911, the old Circuit Courts were abolished, with their remaining trial court jurisdiction transferred to the U.S. District Courts.

Bluebook citation style is used for case names, citations, and jurisdictions. "# Cir." = United States Court of Appeals e.g., "3d Cir." = United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit "D." = United States District Court for the District of . . . e.g.,"D. Mass." = United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts "E." = Eastern; "M." = Middle; "N." = Northern; "S." = Southern; "W." = Western e.g.,"M.D. Ala." = United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama "Ct. Cl." = United States Court of Claims The abbreviation of a state's name alone indicates the highest appellate court in that state's judiciary at the time. e.g.,"Pa." = Supreme Court of Pennsylvania e.g.,"Me." = Supreme Judicial Court of Maine

List of cases in volume 260 U.S. Case Name Page and year Opinion of the Court Concurring opinion(s) Dissenting opinion(s) Lower Court Disposition Wyoming v. Colorado 1 (1922) per curiam none none original rehearing denied Lederer v. Stockton 3 (1922) Taft none none 3d Cir. affirmed Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railway Company v. Wells 8 (1922) McKenna none none Fla. affirmed Knights v. Jackson 12 (1922) Holmes none none Mass. affirmed North Carolina Railroad Company v. Lee 16 (1922) Brandeis none none N.C. reversed United States v. Wong Sing 18 (1922) McKenna none none D. Utah reversed Jackman v. Rosenbaum Company 22 (1922) Holmes none none Pa. affirmed Interstate Commerce Commission v. United States ex rel. Members of Waste Merchants Association of New York 32 (1922) Brandeis none none D.C. Cir. reversed Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company v. Nye Schneider Fowler Company 35 (1922) Taft none none Neb. multiple Wichita Railroad and Light Company v. Public Utilities Commission of Kansas 48 (1922) Taft none none 8th Cir. reversed Freund v. United States 60 (1922) Taft none none Ct. Cl. reversed National Union Fire Insurance Company v. Wanberg 71 (1922)\ Taft none none N.D. affirmed Brewer-Elliott Oil and Gas Company v. United States 77 (1922) Taft none none 8th Cir. affirmed Ryan v. United States 90 (1922) Taft none none Ct. Cl. affirmed United States v. Bowman 94 (1922) Taft none none S.D.N.Y. reversed Ortega Company v. Triay 103 (1922) McKenna none none S.D. Fla. affirmed Bratton v. Chandler 110 (1922) McKenna none none W.D. Tenn. reversed Duesenberg Motors Corporation v. United States 115 (1922) McKenna none none Ct. Cl. affirmed Keokuk and Hamilton Bridge Company v. United States 125 (1922) Holmes none none Ct. Cl. affirmed McKee v. Gratz 127 (1922) Holmes none none 8th Cir. affirmed Browne v. Thorn 137 (1922) Holmes none none 8th Cir. affirmed New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company v. Fruchter 141 (1922) McReynolds none none 2d Cir. reversed Ohio ex rel. Seney v. Swift and Company 146 (1922) McReynolds none none 6th Cir. dismissed The Sao Vicente 151 (1922) McReynolds none none 2d Cir. dismissed Keogh v. Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company 156 (1922) Brandeis none none 7th Cir. affirmed Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern Railroad Company v. Settle 166 (1922) Brandeis none none 6th Cir. reversed Zucht v. King 174 (1922) Brandeis none none Tex. Civ. App. dismissed Ozawa v. United States 178 (1922) Sutherland none none 9th Cir. certification Yamashita v. Hinkle 199 (1922) Sutherland none none Wash. affirmed Gaston, Williams and Wigmore of Canada, Ltd. v. Warner 201 (1922) Sutherland none none 2d Cir. affirmed Southern Pacific Company v. Olympian Dredging Company 205 (1922) Sutherland none none 9th Cir. reversed Cumberland Telephone and Telegraph Company v. Louisiana Public Service Commission 212 (1922) Taft none none E.D. La. remanded United States v. Atkins 220 (1922) McReynolds none none 8th Cir. affirmed Kline v. Burke Construction Company 226 (1922) Sutherland none none 8th Cir. reversed Liberty Oil Company v. Condon National Bank 235 (1922) Taft none none 8th Cir. reversed Heisler v. Thomas Colliery Company 245 (1922) McKenna none none Pa. affirmed General Investment Company v. Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company 261 (1922) VanDevanter none none 6th Cir. affirmed United States v. Oregon Lumber Company 290 (1922) Sutherland none Brandeis 9th Cir. certification City of Boston v. Jackson 309 (1922) Taft none none Mass. affirmed Southern Railway Company v. Clift 316 (1922) McKenna none none Ind. affirmed United States v. Mason and Hanger Company 323 (1922) McKenna none none Ct. Cl. affirmed United States v. Northeastern Construction Company 326 (1922) McKenna none none Ct. Cl. affirmed Portsmouth Harbor Land and Hotel Company v. United States 327 (1922) Holmes none Brandeis Ct. Cl. reversed New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company v. Kinney 340 (1922) Holmes none none N.Y. Sup. Ct. affirmed St. Louis Cotton Compress Company v. Arkansas 346 (1922) Holmes none none Ark. reversed Davis v. Green 349 (1922) Holmes none none Miss. reversed McKelvey v. United States 353 (1922) VanDevanter none none 9th Cir. affirmed American Mills Company v. American Surety Company 360 (1922) Taft none none 2d Cir. affirmed Champlain Realty Company v. Town of Brattleboro 366 (1922) Taft none none] Vt. reversed United States v. Lanza 377 (1922) Taft none none W.D. Wash. reversed Regal Drug Corporation v. Wardell 386 (1922) McKenna none none 9th Cir. reversed Pennsylvania Coal Company v. Mahon 393 (1922) Holmes none Brandeis Pa. reversed Kirby v. United States ex rel. Crow Tribe 423 (1922) VanDevanter none none 9th Cir. affirmed Cox v. Hart 427 (1922) Sutherland none none 9th Cir. affirmed Heitler v. United States 438 (1923)